5th graders win! Theeeee 5th graders win!!!

So, the other day my son comes home and tells me he didn’t enjoy playing football at recess.  I asked him why and he said his team didn’t do well.  I dug deeper and this is what I found.  It seems that in typical class order, the 5th graders decided the teams.  In particular, all the 5th grade “studs” decided the teams.  They essentially said, “OK, how about all of you 3rd and 4th graders on one team and the rest of us will do our best to give you guys a fight.”  Well, being an “underclassman” the younger kids agreed.  I mean, hey, there were more of them, right, so it should be fair.  And besides, the 5th graders are older than them and it is a class system, so what were there choices?  Well, needless to say the bigger faster and older kids took care of them.  I’m sure there were plenty of interceptions, fumble recoveries and long runs and passes for touchdowns.  Who doesn’t like to be on the winning side of that?  Well needless to say it wasn’t much fun for the younger ones.  I told my son that he DID have an option though.  He could choose not to play and/or speak up about the lack of parity.  Lesson learned.

On a completely unrelated note <wink wink>, I’d like to congratulate the New York Yankees on another World Series championship.  I know a lot of Yankees fans who are very happy about this.  I’m happy for them.  For the rest of the fourth-graders out there….well, maybe next year.  :-)

A Toast: To The Resurrection!

N.T. Wright, in his book, Surprised by Hope, says that if you were to take away what is written about the birth of Jesus, you would lose a few chapters in the front of the Gospels, but if you take away what is written about the resurrection, you’d lose the whole New Testament. I’m really enjoying this book, and today I got a real kick out of one thing he said. He was being critical about how we celebrate Easter. After fasting for 40 days, he speaks of how lame (my word not his) we are when it comes to celebrating the resurrection. We spend one day celebrating the resurrection and then it all fizzles away during the Easter (liturgical) time. Easter Monday isn’t really celebrated and it becomes less and less after that.

Is it any wonder people find it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? Is it any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom?”

It’s all but forgotten from Easter Sunday until next year. He remarks that it should, at the very least be an 8 day festival where morning prayer is preceded by Champagne! I love it. I read that this morning and I couldn’t help but smile in agreement. I also smiled at the idea of many of my Christian friends puckering at this notion. What? A toast to the Resurrection with an adult beverage? Uh, yeah.

Effective Meetings

I have written previously about facilitating meetings.  Somewhat akin to that post would be the “effective” meeting I was in today.  My boss had asked me about a month ago to attend in her absence in which I of course said yes.  In doing so, I missed a team meeting of which I am the co-chair.  But hey, when your boss asks you to do something, you make arrangements to do it.  Since I was going in her place, I also was sure to wear a tie.  For those of you who know me, you know that’s serious.  Whenever I go to one of these high-powered meetings as a proxy I am sure to send notes to my boss.  Below is a slightly altered version of what I sent her today:

Meeting began with attendees discussing whether we had an agenda or facilitator.  After about 5 minutes of small talk it was determined that we had neither.  Mary asked Jake about H1N1 cases on campus.  Jake said we have had approximately 60 cumulative cases in which about 35 are active.  Meeting adjourned.

Please Note: H1N1 cases on campus has nothing to do with the purpose of this committee. 

The Scar

Sunny late summer mornings in Northern New Jersey are beautiful and this day was no exception.  The sky was clear and the sun was bright.  The air was already saying it was early fall.  Living west of my workplace meant that sun glare would cause delays and make for a longer commute to work.  Thankfully, my job didn’t start until 9am.  Nevertheless, I was running behind which was often the case, especially with an 18 month boy at home with my wife, Tina.  While traveling Route 10 in Morris county, I listened to the local Christian station for a while and figuratively rolled my eyes at the annoying traffic.  Many of the schools were starting back and that made the traffic even worse.  I didn’t like being late although it happened fairly frequently.  I was just over halfway to work when I grew tired of the radio station, so a few minutes before 9 I switched the radio to the local (NYC) Top 40 station.  It didn’t take long before I realized by the tone of Scott Shannon’s voice that something was wrong.  He said something along the lines of, “We’re not sure exactly what has happened, but it is something horrible.”  I woke up a little more and switched to news radio at WABC in New York.  It was then I found out that what appeared to be a plane had flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center.  They went to the phones where an eyewitness on the streets in Manhattan began to recount what he had seen.  I was amazed…and shocked!  I imagined in my head a small private plane and an explosion as I listened intently to what this guy was describing…but it wasn’t over.  Just then, the caller exclaimed, “Oh my God, another one!.  The other tower is hit!  The heat!…”  My jaw dropped and my hand covered my mouth- a gesture I had never remembered making before and hope to never make again.  I was completely shocked as I moved over a couple lanes to exit off route 10 in Parsippany to make the last few turns into my work.  I wondered if the cars around me had heard what I had heard.  And were they were struggling to drive because of it.  Thoughts rushed through my head as I continue to listened.  I remember WABC having an “expert” on soon after who said, “Well, it’s too early to determine whether this was a true act of terrorism or not.”  That remains the most ridiculous thing I remember hearing on that day.  Everybody knew.  It wasn’t wondering whether it was terrorism, it was wondering who the terrorists were.

I arrived at work and went to the row where my desk was and asked if anyone had heard what had happened.  I can’t remember who had or hadn’t, but I do remember telling one of the managers about it as well.  Later, before I left New Jersey for North Carolina, he told me he would never forget me, because I was the one who told him about what had happened that morning.  I don’t know how I feel about being remembered this way.  I wasn’t the scar, but I was telling Frank he was about to have one.  I did the same, I’m sure, when I told my wife over the phone to “Turn on the news.”  News travelled quickly in the office of course, and with it feelings of shock and adrenaline.  My boss actually told us to keep working.  Really?  Work?  There was no way to concentrate.  We were paralyzed.  But work?  Not anytime soon, I’m sure.  You need focus for that.  About an hour later, someone got wind of the Pentagon, but that was further away and my head couldn’t digest that now that the numbness had set in.  Someone then heard that the first tower had collapsed.  I thought perhaps a few hundred people would be killed at impact and that those below would simply walk down the stairs and out into the street, and those above would be rescued by helicopters.  I remembered thinking that if it collapsed straight downward that couldn’t be too bad because surely everyone was out of the tower by then. It was a naive thought, but it’s still in my head.   We were numb.  We would be for, not hours, but days.  By late morning, we were leaving for home.  Traffic was heavy again with everyone thinking the same thing; “I just want to be home with my family.”  I remember hugging my wife and then watching the news…all day.  It was ironic to see my 18 month old play while this was all unfolding.  He had no idea.  Actually, I still don’t know if he has an idea.  It might be a discussion tonight…

Time becomes hazy and you don’t remember all of your thoughts, but you remember some.  I didn’t know any one who worked in the Trade Center towers, but I knew plenty of people who could have been there that morning “on business.”  I worried about them. I lived within the commuting distance to Manhattan, and some people within our borough were lost, but I didn’t know any of them.  Newscasters spoke of 20,000 estimated deaths in the towers.  There was a sense of irony and relief each time the estimate was lowered.  Sometime during that day I recall thinking how grateful I was for the first day of school and sun glare.  Surely less people had made it to the WTC on time for work due to the change in traffic patterns. 

The days that followed were a blur as well.  It was back to work on the 12th but I don’t recall if I stayed the whole day.  There is one part of the trip on Route 10 where you are up on a large hill and you can see out over New Jersey.  That morning, there was a plume of smoke on the horizon.  Living a good 45-60 minutes from the City, I couldn’t believe I saw what I saw, but I am all but positive that this it.  When I was at work, I wondered if our building would be a target.  It sounds irrational now, but that was the thought.  I taught a class at a local community college.  My first lecture after the attack, my students just stared at me.  Their eyes were clearly saying, “Please don’t make us think. We can’t concentrate.”  It was still too soon to resume “life” so I sent them home.  Somewhere in the midst of it all, life began again, but thoughts remain.  I remember more than one Sunday at church imagining some terrorist coming into the church in the middle of the service and firing on us.  I had plans in my mind on how I would react if this happened.  A few weeks later the anthrax attack, which originated in NJ, hit the news as well.  Within a week, white powder had been sent to our church.  We had a guest speaker that weekend and we ended up borrowing a local reservation hall and having our service their.  Nothing became of the white powder, but it was still terrorism.  A month later, I had a week of training in the CBS building in Manhattan.  Taking the train in, there was one point where you could see the skyline.  Looking at it without those buildings was like looking at someone for the first time after they had lost a limb.  Your brain just didn’t want to compute the change and it hit me once again.  During training, people were still talking about it.  Those who live in the city would talk about the lingering smell from the rubble.  Going home from training, I’d take the subway back to New York Penn and find armed military personnel throughout the station.  I found myself thankful for their out-of-place presence.  From then on, the memories faded.  This was the deepest part of the wound.  The most central part of the scar.  But like scars, memories fade, especially around the edges.  Above is what remains.  Many have taken time over the past eight years to pause, remember and honor.  I have never been too much for that.  Of course I remember.  I may even pause.  I think now is the first time, I have truly tried to recall my thoughts from eight years ago.  There were many of them that have been forgotten, but this is what remains of that time.  Some scars fade and some disappear.  Some remain and become part of who you are.

The Coffee Room

This past summer we spent a lot of time renovating and decorating our house.  We’re not big on formal dining rooms, and after we had finished furnishing the new rooms inside and outside we were left with an empty dining room.  After much thought we settled on something a little different.  Below is our coffee room.

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Question: To Drink or not to Drink?

My family and I just got back from a nice trip to HIlton Head Island. It was a great time. Like most trips, this one included a Sunday away from home, and consequently away from church. We have made it a habit, and the boys have come to expect that if we're away, I will lead "church" on Sunday before we head out for the day. This last trip was no exception and I knew what we should do during Sunday morning. I went in search of a passage that would speak about the Lord's creation and how it's all His and that when we see the beauty of the earth, we should be, in our hearts, praising God for what he has created. (By now, you're wondering what this has to do with the title of the post, aren't you?) Well I came across a great passage, Psalm 104, that articulated so much of what the boys would be seeing in the ocean and on the land as we were on this vacation. I told them that church was going to be really long because we should continue worshiping God for his creation while we're observing and enjoying it. Psalm 104 lays this out nicely. It was a perfect passage to read and discuss with the family. I would encourage you to read it as well. But here's the interesting part. (Verses 14 and 15):

He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.

Now what am I to do with that phrase in bold? Do I skip over it when reading it to a 6 and 9 year old? How does wine make a heart glad? Is this simply a human thought in the middle of a psalm of praise? What about Ephesian 5:18 (do not get drunk...)? Or the fine example of Jonadab and the Recabites? When you look at the full context of the Psalm, it's hard to imagine that this would slip in to a psalm of praise if it were not a "proper" thought. I'm inclined to believe that perhaps Wine too is a gift from God. Well, we know that to be the case literally in the time of Christ. So, yeah, I read it to my boys. They didn't ask any questions about it either. But it does make me wonder something else; why is it so many denominations speak out against the drinking of wine? To me, the Bible clearly speaks of moderation.

Oswald Chambers Quote on Prayer

Sometimes short blog entries are the best.  Here is the last statement in today’s devotional in “My Utmost for His Highest:”

When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to place the blame on someone else. That is always a trap of Satan. When you seem to have no answer, there is always a reason— God uses these times to give you deep personal instruction, and it is not for anyone else but you.

Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers or CARS is a new government program. I’m sure by now most everyone has heard about this. Basically your are given a trade-in value of between $3500-$4500 for your older less efficient (18mpg or less) “clunker” in exchange for a more fuel efficient car. Not only is it a government program but it also has the logic of a government program. The program is only available for new car purchase.

Why would a cash strapped government ask it’s cash strapped citizens to spend even more money that they don’t have? People who have old fuel hogs typically can’t afford to buy a new car. That or they are shrewd enough to choose not to. If they could and wanted to, they probably would have traded in these older vehicles before now. If they do this now, many of them will be even more cash strapped or will default on the loans they would be given. Hmmm, loan defaults? Over spending? This sounds familiar.

Church Economics

While getting ready for church, I asked myself this question. "How many families does it take to financially support a full time pastor?" Interesting question, especially for us western thinking Christians. Assuming that each household was self supporting and they tithe their "local storehouse" the answer is pretty easy. For the example, let's say each family makes $50,000 and that's what is required (minus tithe) to "make a living." With each family giving 10% or $5000, it takes 10 families to support a pastor and only 9 if the pastor doesn't tithe. (Not the kind of pastor I'd want). Just ten families! That's it! Of course, funds for a church are needed for ministry/outreach, but ten families? Really? Wow!

It brings a lot of other questions to my mind regarding how we "do church."

Encountering God

This is what I read this week from John Piper in his book, “Don’t Waste Your Life:”

No one ever said they learned their deepest lessons of life, or had their sweetest encounters with God, on sunny days. People go deep with God when the drought comes. That is the way God designed it. Christ aims to be magnified in life most clearly by the way we experience him in our losses.

Facilitating Meetings

We all love meetings, right? I mean, we go along doing legitimate work all day and then the meeting comes. It breaks our flow and makes us stop all the productivity we had. I don’t know too many people who like meetings. One of my primary functions in my current role is to facilitate these things. Meetings can be like herding kittens, especially when strong personalities are in the room. Frequently they become stages for those who desire to show their importance. That happens frequently in Academe. There are a number of tips on how to run effective meetings at various websites, but here are two in my opinion that are perhaps the most critical:.

1. Meetings, at the very least, need a goal; at the most a detailed agenda. If this is written in front of each attendee on a printout, or seen on a whiteboard or overhead, then it will help all people be cognizant of why they are there. Meetings that do not have a formal purpose will become frustrating to the attendees, even if things are accomplished. Another reason why you need this is because like I said, it’s like herding kittens. They need to be reminded of the purpose frequently to keep it from being a stage for the one or two difficult personalities in the room.
2. End your meeting early! When you are facilitating a meeting, do whatever you can, including tabling the lower priority agenda items if need be, and end it early. I have never once walked out of a meeting where I have heard someone say, “You know, we seemed pretty efficient in there, but I really wish we would have spent more time discussing all the agenda items.” It is my belief that attendees will think the meeting is successful if you start them on time and end them early. If you can’t end early, end them on time. If that’s not possible, schedule a second meeting. Show your attendees that you value their time and they will appreciate you.

Clearly this isn’t exhaustive, but these two usually start me in the right direction.

Laying it Down, Bono Style

This morning, as I began the Epilogue in “The Reason for God” by Timothy Keller, he quoted a book/interview regarding U2 lead singer, Bono.  The book is called Bono: Conversation with Michka Assayas.  Many of us have heard or read the Lord, Liar or Lunatic argument before, but I’m encouraged to know that Bono has a pretty good grasp of it too.  I loved this: 

Assayas: …Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?

Bono No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. … I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched …

Later in Bono’s book he says the following:

Bono: … [I]f only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. …When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.

And there you have it.  Preached by Bono himself.

Differences between British and US sports/sport

First, we Yanks say “sports” and the Brits opt for “sport.”  I don’t care to into the linguistic aspect, just a quick note on sports.  Consider the following photographs taken from a recent Cricket match in England.  These are English batters celebrating among Australian fielders:

What are they celebrating?  Well first let me tell you a little bit that I know about Cricket.  There are different types of cricket, two of which I’ll mention here.  First there is “Limited overs” Cricket which is roughly analogous to a baseball game where both sides get a maximum number of pitches thrown to them.  Then there is “Test Cricket” which is considered the “highest form” of the game.  These are usually played on an international level with one country traveling to another for a series of matches.  The first known match and longest rivalry is between England and Australia.  This has become known as  “The Ashes” series and happens about every 18 months if I’m not mistaken.  The first of five matches was recently completed and the pictures above are from the end of that match.  Now Test matches are different than any other team sport in the US.  They are scheduled to last 5 days!  Each team bats twice and they play for about six hours each day!  For those of you with short attention spans, you may opt to watch a “limited overs” match which only lasts a day.  :-)

Needless to say, this is a bit different than what we’re used to in the states.  We don’t like long games.  Looking at our top three sports, football and baseball last about three hours and we complain that they last too long.  Imagine, five days!  I suppose after all of that you’d celebrate like the batsmen in the pictures are.  Imagine the thrill of victory after a five day epic!  That’s what they’re celebrating, right?  Nope.  They’re rejoicing in a draw!  A tie!  Five days of cricket, and the English side, as well as English cricket fans were elated that they didn’t lose!  Could we Americans imagine this?  Of course not.  We work it so that the only draws possible are in professional football and even then, that is only if neither team scored in an overtime period, which rarely happens.  We hate ties so much that we changed college football rules so they wouldn’t happen anymore - ever.  They don’t happen in basketball, and the closest thing to a tie in baseball is when two teams play a doubleheader and each team wins one game.  And in the words of Marty Brennaman, splitting the doubleheader is like kissing your sister.  (No offense intended to my wonderful siblings out there.  I’m sure you understand the sentiment).  So when it comes to cricket, I doubt the United States would ever be able to field a decent squad.  We just don’t have the patience for it.  But regardless.  Congratulations to England!  Good job not losing that first test series!

Biased Media?

Recently I mentioned to some friends that I listen to NPR. Most of them remarked by saying that this was part of the “liberal media.” However, I also have one friend tell me she believes NPR is actually leaning conservative. Go figure. How does this happen? I think that the media, in general is biased. There is going to be a tilt one way or the other. Granted some are tilted more than others. There was a time when I actually thought Fox News was Fair and Balanced. Perhaps they were and have since changed. Or perhaps I have changed. Actually, I know I have, but what I’m saying is that since we have our own thoughts and agendas, we can’t declare someone neutral. It’s not possible. It’s all relative to us.

So relative to me, I submit the following. My wife has taken to watching the nightly news. Specifically, she is watching CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric. That’s fine with me since Gibson (ABC) sounds condescending and Williams (NBC) sounds whiny and sensationalistic. Couric seems to be the most tolerable of the three. So, never mind left or right here. Let’s just mention Dick Cheney. They mentioned him last night as it related to this CIA story. Before the story ran, of course Couric introduced the story in which these two pictures were shown behind her. Now tell me this was the best they could do for the story. Really? Look, I have no affinity for the former VP, but I doubt anyone could look at these objectively and think the network was trying to paint Cheney in a neutral way. I won’t go as far as to say they lean to the left, (even if I believe they do), but I will say they are clearly not big Cheney fans. I’m just saying there is no unbiased media.

Retirement: Addendum

To follow up on my previous post, I would like to provide the following quote from the back of the book, "Don't Waste Your Life," by John Piper. I'll be starting this one later this week:

John Piper writes, "I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells. . . .' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy.

I'd like to tell you more about the book, but I haven't begun to read the inside of it. That being said, the cover alone will get you thinking.